Work, Fight, or Play Ball Presentation

This February 28th, join us for Work, Fight, or Play Ball: How Bethlehem Steel Helped Baseball’s Stars Avoid World War I, an author talk with William Ecenbarger. The program explores the little-known story of Bethlehem Steel’s 1918 industrial baseball league, which attracted Major League stars like Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, and Shoeless Joe Jackson during the Great War. Ecenbarger examines how wartime pressures, public opinion, and corporate interests shaped players’ choices to work, serve, or stay on the field, and how the league stirred controversy while drawing crowds. The talk will be followed by a book signing, with limited copies available in the museum gift shop.